Page 4 • Wednesday , April 21 , 2021 • The Hammonton Gazette
Hammonton Swim Club ready for upcoming season
SWIM , from Page 1 coming in ; we have 50 new lounge chairs to go around the pool , which are great ,” Penza said .
Kiss said that the club plans to continue some of its more popular activities , including their Dive-In Movie Theater , which is held every Wednesday night once school has been dismissed for the summer .
“ You can watch it from the pool . It ’ s a giant screen at the end of the pool , with sound . We have people in the pool watching , as well as people around watching on the lounge chairs . You can watch it all the way across the entire pool ; it ’ s a very large screen — it ’ s about a 30-by-20 screen . We also have food trucks there when we do movie night ,” Kiss said .
The club also holds Sports Nights during the summer .
“ We air Phillies games and Flyers games on the big screen ,” Kiss said .
Penza said that one of the club ’ s new offerings this year is a time devoted specifically to children ages 8 and younger .
“ We ’ re going to be opening at 10 a . m ., Monday through Friday , all summer for parents with children 8 and under . Only the baby pool will be open to them . It ’ s exclusive for parents with children 8 and under . We found that , over the years , a lot of parents , their kids take naps , and a traditional noon opening is too late for them to really enjoy it , so we ’ re adding two hours of just the baby pool for them so members with young kids can come and chill out ,” Penza said .
Kiss said that the Hammonton Swim Club also offers an open lap-swim program for “ people who want to work out in the morning .”
“ That is a program where you don ’ t need to be a member ; you can just pay for whether you want to go five weeks or 10 weeks , from 6:15 a . m . to 7:15 a . m . It ’ s a fun way to get your exercise in . Membership is not required . You can pay per week , pay per session , pay as you go . It ’ s pretty cool , and a lot of people love it . We have a lot of people who work out in gyms and they want to do something extra , so they come and swim ,” he said .
One of the draws of the club , Kiss said , is the quality of the water itself . “ The pools are saltwater and heated . Saltwater is softer water , because you ’ re not putting chlorine in the water ; the chlorine is actually generated in the water , because we use sodium chloride , and the salt breaks it apart to form chlorine . We don ’ t pour chlorine in the water ; it ’ s naturally formulated ,” he said . Another , he said , is the club ’ s keyless entry system .
“ It ’ s great ; people love it . If you come in , you just wave your fob and then it automatically signs you in . If you have guests , you tell us and they sign a book , then they pay their fee and their good to go . They have to sign the book for tracking purposes ; the state requires that anyone who is not a member must be tracked ... We follow all CDC guidelines , as outlined for swim clubs ,” Kiss said .
Penza said that the swim club ’ s competitive team , the Hammonton Stingrays , is also gearing up for the summer .
“ The swim team is expecting a full season this year , which is real important ... We ’ re really excited to have a full season again . A lot of kids missed out on it last year , and it was really tough for everyone ,” Penza said .
Shawn McCloud , the Suburban Swim Association of South Jersey ( SSASJ ) League Representative , explained further .
“ We weren ’ t able to have a competitive season last summer , but we are full-speed ahead , and looking forward to getting back to normal , in terms of having a competitive swim league and swim season for the Stingrays this sum-
See CLuB , Page 14